It was a good week

I think it was the right amount of 'doing' and 'reflecting' and 'puttering', as Bill says. I guess I didn't really have to make any major compromises, and I got to spend a lot of time by myself Saturday to reset things, do homework and be creative.

Some of my favorite time is spend at home listening to music, while artmaking or sewing. Sometimes there is dancing. I do wish that I had more of this. 

We saw a documentary on Johnny Cash a couple of weeks ago. One of the memorable topics was the series of albums that he recorded before he died. There was a lot of time spent on the song 'Hurt', a cover of Trent Reznor's song. Of course I had to go get this album. Two big favorites on the album are of course 'Hurt' and 'Streets of Laredo'. Again songs that reflect on death have been resonating with me.

My uncle passed away this week. This was my father's brother, he has been in full time care for a while and also had dementia. So there's that.

I spent Saturday drafting an 8 section skirt called a gore. The skirt has pleats between every section and I chose to make knife pleats, sort of reminded me of plaid skirts that I had in high school. Of course I wore them with thigh high stockings and mary janes, that was the uniform of the time. The skirt was actually too big, I am shrinking and my body is changing due to all the bike riding.

Sunday was spend with the AIDS/LifeCycle Cat 2 training series hosted by the Positive Pedlers. My teammates (Team Unpopular) and I were up and at the Sports Basement at the crack of dawn's ass. 

The ride went out to Fairfax, then to Nicassio, around the reservoir and back around through Samuel P Taylor to Lagunitas. Then home. 70 miles is about what I'm doing every Sunday. We'll increase the mileage and frequency as it gets into April/May.

It was a beautiful day. I felt strong on most of the ride. I followed a fellow affectionately referred to as 'Uncle Larry' up White's Hill and just took my time, this stretch gets easier every time!

I struggle with the rollers out on the Nicassio road, I run out of steam on the uphills and it always takes me a little while to get into the rhythm of them. This is to note and to practice.

Tuesday night we drew Alotta Boutté at Dr Sketchy's. She is such a joy to draw, so many beautiful shapes! For the first half, we were treated to a drapey, corseted coraly-pink dress made by the fabulous Mr David. Everywhere my pen landed was a luscious curve and drape. I really had fun with the watercolors. Strong shadows go down as a line of bold watercolor, then I just go back with some water and let the shadows 'bloom' into the lights. I'm really having a good time experimenting. Most of my drawings were pleasing and relatively complete. Setup and breakdown were pretty simple. Our volunteers and attendees are the best. So grateful. 
 

Right now, it's like this

It was a little bit of a challenging weekend. Saturday and Sunday were busy and I really just felt like hanging around the house.

I participated in a fun event on Saturday. Pushbike had a sale and swap on the sidewalk of their shop. I sold some tires, pedals and a bag...then turned around and got some Pushbike armwarmers. +$60, -$40. +$20 overall, woo! The sun was out and people had beers in hand.

I volunteered for the first shift of the SF Randonneurs' Russian River 300k. The first riders came in right after I arrived at 5, they finished at 5:03 which is 11 hours and 3 minutes after the start. Holy hot foot Batman, these guys are fast.

From 5-8pm, we probably checked in 30-40 riders. It is really nice to welcome everyone in and give them a chocolate milk, though it was frickin cold. We processed the brevet cards and got everyone signed in. My shift ended at 8pm.

I hit the pillow early so that I could get up with no light, thank you daylight savings time, and get to an 8am meetup with some ALC folks. My friend Tia has been riding with these peeps for a while and she joined their team, which is known as Team Unpopular. 

Lots of silliness ensued at the start, these guys have moxie in spades. We followed the same route that other ALC training rides were doing that day, out to China Camp with a mini Tiburon loop at the end.

Jesse, Tommy, Shelly and John had me laughing the whole day. I like the flamboyance and craziness of this group and plan on riding with them every Sunday.

Apparel Arts is slow and steady. I finished and tried on two skirts on Monday, it does feel awesome to have my teacher check off all the finished patterns from my list. Here is a list of all the skirt muslins that I have drafted since I started the class in January. Feels nice to list them out, also feels nice to have them hanging in the closet. One day I'll get to sew them in fashion fabric!

• single dart
• double dart
• yoke slit skirt
• empire pencil kick pleat
• pleated godet
• lowered waist/seamed
• button placket

Next week we draw again at Dr Sketchy's, this time it's curves for days with Miss Alotta Boutté!

Art more

Last Friday I had a little bit of stomach flu. While it didn't knock me out for too long, I felt just crappy enough to stay off the bike.

Monday in Apparel Arts, I sewed up a button placket skirt and drafted a drapey wrap skirt. I'm hoping for some time soon to work on Bill's shirt pattern and a fashion fabric version of one of the patterns I have drafted.

Since I was indoors last weekend, I spent some time watching and practicing watercolor tutorials on youtube.

Lorraine Watry has a great series of 4 videos: http://youtu.be/wbDawbOO8XY

She drew out a grid on her paper, then systematically goes through each technique. Some of the techniques looked a little boring at first, but I decided to give them all a go...and I was pleasantly surprised that I liked them all. I really was surprised how cool the sandpaper/watercolor pencil technique is. Of course I knew that I loved the wet on wet and blooms techniques.



The whole point of doing these tutorials was to have some ideas for color ready for the Dr Sketchy's Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence event on Tuesday!

We love having the Sisters model because they are so dang visually appealing, but also because they are funny and they tell us facts about the work that they do.

Underneath the puns and makeup are ordained ministers, nurses, and community activists. They raise money for folks on the fringes and build community in our amazing city.

Two years ago they blessed Diane and I for our community building with Dr Sketchy's. It is a cherished memory and reminder of how important community is. This was the fourth year that we have had the Sisters model for us.


Sister Mae Joy B With U, Sister T'Aint a Virgin and Sister Jezebel.


Drawing of Sister Jezebel, Sister T'Aint a Virgin and a dime bag full of glitter


Drawings of Sister Mae Joy B With U and Sister T'Aint a Virgin

It was really nice to have some quiet time making art this week. Things can get out of balance pretty quickly 'round here.

Recovering & Catching up

I've been laying low and catching up on sleep, eating well and reading this:



Work has gotten busy again and it's draining. Training for ALC is teaching me a lot about balance, including taking time for friends and family and saying no when needed.

I got back to the Friday night sit at Against the Stream with one of my favorite teachers.

I caught up a bit on Apparel Arts:



And tried to cook a little this week:

Next up, we draw the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at Dr Sketchy's on March 5th.

This is not to be missed! I've been looking at watercolor tutorials on youtube, and hope to practice some new (to me) techniques for this one.

This has had a big effect on me this week, Women Who Make America:
http://www.makers.com/documentary/

Grateful to all these women with courage. In the words of the Sisters, 'We remember, we remember, we remember.'